Interestingly, Dorsey argues that Twitter isn't guilty of a double standard when it comes to Trump — because of the "newsworthiness" of his tweets.

"We are going to hold all accounts to the same standards. Our policy does [account for] newsworthiness as well, and that was requested by our policy team," Dorsey said, when asked if he could consider a tweet from Trump "unacceptable" and banworthy.

"So we're not taking something down that people should be able to report on and actually show that this is what the source said. It's really important to make sure that we provide that source for the right reporting, and to minimize bias in articles."

Donald Trump.
Pool/Getty Images
In other words: Trump is the president of the United States, which makes whatever he says (or tweets) significant, and Twitter believes it has a responsibility to let people see those pronouncements.

As a business, Twitter is struggling. But Donald Trump's compulsive use of the social network means it has taken on an outsize role in American political life. The caustic US president tweets at all hours — one moment threatening North Korea, the next lambasting his critics, as the media hangs on his every word.

For years, Twitter has been plagued by an endemic harassment problem. The company now says it is attempting to curb the issue, and has made a number of high-profile bans of users as it talks tough on the issue, notably controversial journalist Milo Yiannopoulos. (Disclosure: I wrote for a site owned by Yiannopoulos in 2013.) This has let some to argue that Trump is guilty of similar infractions, and deserves the boot.